Over the past weekend, Coventry played host to the second BULLS England Youth Grand Prix of the year, where English duo Taylor McGuckian and Kacie O’Connor took the top honours.
Despite the venue being called the Cue Club, it was darts, not snooker, on the agenda – as dozens of the country’s hottest young oche prospects gathered once again to prove that the future of the sport is in very capable hands.
After cruising through his group, dropping just a single leg, reigning Target Scottish Open Boys champion McGuckian set about dismantling the rest of the field. A couple of whitewashes followed – against Taylor James Harding and Sam Jackson (not the Hollywood one, that would just be weird) – before a high-quality 4-2 semi-final victory over another rising star, Kaya Baysal.
Rounding off a superb afternoon, the 17-year-old Bedworth thrower powered to a 5-1 win in the final against Ridley Ladigus. With a couple of 90+ averages and just four legs dropped all day, it was a dominant display from a player clearly on the up.
In the girls’ event, 16-year-old Kacie O’Connor stole the show. Her group was slightly larger than the boys’, but that didn’t faze her – she won all seven of her matches to top the table. A tight 4-3 semi-final win over Taylor Field followed, before Kacie produced a brilliant performance to beat Lola Wheeler 5-2 in the final, which included a classy 158 checkout.
The delighted Tamworth youngster took to social media shortly after, saying:
“Back from the England Youth Grand Prix where there were seven girls total, making it one group – they were tough games but I was able to play well and win them all, putting me top. I played Taylor Field in the semi-finals and we both had some good darts, but I just about managed to win my game 4-3.
“The final against Lola Wheeler was a great game – good darts from both of us and I managed to pick up the win. Overall, surprised to say this, but I’m quite happy with how I played – even if some think otherwise. Let’s see how the rest of my darts goes.
“All in all – a good day. Some differences in my performance but glad to have won my first ever WDF ranked tournament. Thank you to my sponsor Unicorn Darts (Jamie Caven). I’d like to thank everyone for their support – much appreciated.”
The kids will be back in action for round three in Coventry on Sunday 13th July – and if this weekend’s anything to go by, the bar’s been set high.
—–ENDS—–
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